Dude, surfers have got to be some of the bravest people on Earth. Out of Australia today comes another incredible story about a surfer who was out minding his own business on the waves when out of nowhere came a shark! It's usually the surfers you hear about getting attacked, because they are among the few with the guts enough to be out that far in the ocean where god knows what is lurking ... and the guts to know exactly what to do if that happens. The 29-year-old survivor of this recent shark attack could have lost a lot more than a few fingers and some bite-marked shaped flesh if he had not done what he did out there off Macquarie, north of Sydney.

Who knows what any of us would do or how we would act when faced with death. This guy, who was in an area where dolphins were swimming and there had been reported shark attacks (I mean, where there's food, there's sharks, right?), was fine one minute, the next he had suffered three bites to his leg and hand. Somehow, in the ensuing seconds, he was able to think clearly enough to put the nose of his surfboard into the bull shark's mouth to prevent another, possibly fatal, bite. He was airlifted to an area hospital, but according to video of him giving a thumbs up to onlookers, he looks like he'll make it ... and be back riding the waves again in no time.

Perhaps this is just basic instinct and something any of us would think to do in the face of danger, but I'm in awe nonetheless ... and not just of him, but of all his surfer friends who used the leg ropes of their surfboards as tourniquets to stop the man's bleeding after the attack while rescuers arrived. True lifesavers all.

Do you think you'd be able to think clearly enough to fight off a shark during an attack?